Love is all around you

Taylor almost fell asleep at his grandmother's. It had been a rather long night.

 First, he didn't think they could find the right thread count at Wal-mart, but finally, Sara found some black sheets that would do. Then she thought he needed pajamas. He'd never worn pajamas in his life. Then came a long discussion about what to wear to bed. "How about nothing." He was honest. She thought it was a joke.

 Later, came the laundering. Oh, if only..they'd done some laundry, long before now, they might not be together. He had no idea she could pour in so many things to make the sheets smell fresh.

And the music to set the night in motion. Taylor laughed at her when she put on Depeche Mode. But he got through it. Yes, the deed was done, and he was kind of goofy about it.

She kept looking at him horrified now, that he might make their night of passion.. breakfast talk. But he kept holding on to a coffee mug and asked for more coffee. Really, he wasn't hungry or anything. Honestly, he was anxious to be in bed with Sara again, because what did happen? She was really different when she listened to music during sex.

For the most part, he was a lump on a log at his grandmother's house. Doing what he knew best, being silent. Meanwhile, Sara had to answer fifty questions or so about her job, her family, how long had they been seeing each other, and did she go to church.

"Not as much as when I was younger." She shrugged. "I still go to Christmas Mass." She told his mother and grandmother. That's when Taylor knew it was time to go. Wrong answer.

Barry really thought the turkey was too big. He'd got a free one from work.

"You know, I could have brought the whole dinner home, from where I work." Charlie looked at him, as if they really didn't need a turkey this size, even with Scott and Essie to feed.

"It was free." He was still wondering what he could do. He couldn't quite read the directions on the bag, even with his glasses on.

Of course, Charlie slid the rack to almost the bottom of the oven.

"It does that?" Barry didn't know. "Seriously?" That went to show how much he used the oven.

She oiled the turkey up with vegetable oil. Of course, it was Charlie that saw he'd left the plastic bag of gravy and gizzards in the bird.

Barry made a face of disgust. But she tended to the turkey and soon enough, it was in the oven. Charlie even put some foil on top so it would start cooking sooner.

"Thank God! You're here." He hugged her with a big smile, planting a kiss on her forehead. He knew now that she didn't really need him, but he needed her.

Ben couldn't figure out what was in all those shoe boxes. His mom wasn't taking them to the curb. They were still in the hall closet. He noticed the name of the prison on one of the envelopes in a shoebox.

Ben almost choked on laughter as he went to show it to his mother. "You, wrote to somebody in prison?" He asked while she was still nursing the turkey with a fat baster in the kitchen.

"Oh, it was years ago. Decades, in fact." She shrugged. Ben supposed the letters were all there in those shoe boxes. Why hadn't he noticed before? He thought his mother just liked shoes.

"How did that happen?" They told him at group counseling to always ask questions. He finally decided it was about time he did.

"Oh, I dunno. I never really dated." She talked about her parents. How she'd taken care of them. They weren't around, by the time Ben was born. "Somebody, friend from college...asked me to write a prisoner. So we started writing letters. Come to find out, he was letting everyone in his cell block read them. I didn't know until I got a collect phone call from this Fernando, that he was coming to get me." She shook her head. "I'd never been so upset in my life, so I went straight to the prison and had a word with Jeremy, about it..Well, I guess they thought it was a conjugal visit, evidently. I got to meet him face to face..and..." She was stammering, but not saying much. "And then you came along."

Ben stared at her. He didn't believe her. Still, his stomach growled. He didn't want to be hungry at a time like this.

The door bell rang.

"Oh..he's here..he's finally here!" She was so excited. She practically left the oven door open, but it squeaked shut, in time.

It was a man. A lot younger man, than Ben antispated. It just about took the air out of him, as he waited. She hugged him. He kissed her. As if it had been far too long, since the last time.

"Who's that?" Mae came up from behind him and practically made him jump.

"Um, Jeremy." He heard her say his name. "My mom likes to write to men... in prison."